The present invention relates generally to commercial trash bins and, more specifically, to a device for propping the lids of such bins in an open position.
Trash bins used by commercial establishments have one or more hinged lids that can be opened to deposit trash into the bin. The bins are designed to be emptied by a trash truck. A hydraulically operated lift on the truck engages the trash bin using two forks, lifts it above the truck, and inverts the bin. The lids swing open, and the contents of the bin fall into the truck.
The lids of conventional trash bins are mounted on hinges at the rear wall of the bin adjacent the rim of the bin. When the lids are closed, they are oriented generally horizontally and perpendicular to the side walls of the trash bin. The lids can be swung open approximately 270 degrees to an orientation in which they are generally parallel to the rear wall of the trash bin. After a user has opened a lid in this manner and deposited the trash, the opened lid is out of the user's reach, and the user therefore must walk to the rear of the trash bin to close the lid. A user can avoid this inconvenience by holding on to the lid with one hand while depositing trash with the other hand, but this procedure is also inconvenient because a user may desire to use both hands to deposit the trash.
Practitioners in the art have developed devices to prop the lid of a trash bin partially open to facilitate depositing trash. A prop has been used that consists of a bar mounted at a proximal end to an inner side wall of the bin with a rotatable connection. The distal end of the bar can be pivoted upwardly to a position in which it supports the lid in a partially open position at about a 30-45 degree angle with the rim of the bin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,844, issued to Swanson, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,341, issued to Hodge, each discloses a trash bin having a lid mounted to it using hinges that pivot or rotate on two parallel axes. When the lid is opened from the closed position to a partially open position, the lid rotates about the first axis but not the second. A limit bar rotates into contact with the rear wall of the trash bin when the lid reaches the partially open position at about a 30-45 degree angle with the bin rim, thereby allowing the lid to rest in that position. The lid may be further opened by rotating it about the second axis (but not the first axis because the limit bar prevents such rotation). The lid may thus be opened to the fully open position in which it is generally parallel to the rear wall of the trash bin.
Large trash items cannot easily be deposited in the trash bins described in the above-referenced patents when the lids are in the partially open position. It would be desirable to prop the lid partially open at an angle substantially greater than 45 degrees. It would also be desirable to provide an economical lid prop that can be retrofitted on existing trash bins of conventional design without modifying the bin. These problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.